Beyond food: The power of partnerships
When it comes to serving our community, we can’t do it alone. We team up with other organisations who share our commitment to helping Lambeth residents lead happier, healthier lives.
Working in partnership with local housing providers helps us increase and deepen our reach.
We provide the local experience, relationships with residents, and our well-embedded food infrastructure. They provide the support, resources and funding to super charge our work. Together, we have the momentum to provide even more practical, community-led solutions that address the root causes of food insecurity rather than simply responding to crisis.
The local people that we support reflect the diversity of Lambeth. More than half of the households we reach include children and many residents are living on low incomes or experiencing financial hardship. Over a third live with a disability or long-term health condition and we also support older people, refugees and people with no recourse to public funds.
When we partner with housing associations, everything we do is designed to build long-term resilience by helping people not only access food today, but develop the skills, confidence, relationships and opportunities that enable them to thrive in the future with some projects co-developed with residents themselves.
We’re excited to have recently been awarded funding from L&Q to help power our pantries and promote them among L&Q residents. As part of the funding, we’ll also launch a new programme of free monthly practical cooking and food skills workshops. Sessions will cover healthy meals on a budget, cooking with pantry ingredients, meal planning, batch cooking, reducing food waste and culturally diverse recipes. There will also be activities co-designed by residents, with opportunities for people who want to get more involved to progress onto our longstanding Food Ambassadors course.
We also collaborate with other housing associations and providers. MTVH hosts our Moorlands pantry for free and provides vouchers for its residents most in need. Pinnacle Group hosts our Myatt's pantry for free, and Notting Hill Genesis is working with us to host and promote our upcoming Food Ambassador course at their Bolney Meadows Centre, with plans to start a fortnightly community low-cost cafe there from December.
Collaborating with a network of local housing providers is invaluable in making sure that we’re there for all residents who need our support.
It doesn’t stop at food! With a wider reach, we can provide wraparound support with issues such as debt, benefits, energy and digital inclusion, helping residents address challenges before they escalate.
Watch this space for news and updates on our projects.